Growing edible flowers

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Integration through regular training in the cultivation of edible flowers.

“It is important to highlight that this activity must have clear and suitable objectives and we must have patience as this is an activity slowly develops over time.”

Description of the activity

In this activity, organic agriculture is used as a way to encourage social integration. Users are guided by technicians in organic farming and in the production of edible flowers. The participants are users and ex-users of the center linked to the project. They meet 2 or 3 times a week depending on the time of the year.

This activity aims to increase the future possibilities of employability of the users as well as the opportunity of entering into a new and increasingly widespread culture in the current food market.
Being a new area within the market allows the increase of the outlook and motivation of the users.

Additionally, this new challenge allows us to enter in a new source of employment that is still underdeveloped in Spain, which will allow us to increase the employability of these people at risk of social exclusion consistently increasing their knowledge in organic agriculture and creating new business opportunities. Increasingly edible flowers cover a new market share : the number of new companies that operate in this new type of business is increasing and, therefore, they need workers who know this sector.

It is important to know the cultivation techniques, the seasonal demand and to know the potential market, as well the conservation of this very delicate product.

Finally, more experienced users trained in this subject can also continue going to the gardens to increase their knowledge and keep in touch with the project workers.

Competences

In this activity there are obviously two fields that are not apparentlyrelated to each other but are extremely important: the social knowledge provided by the workers of the shelter as well as the knowledge in ecological agriculture necessary for the development of the project provided by Efecto Ecológico, which is an association that teaches the general ecological techniques of cultivation.

It is necessary for the development of the activity a technical knowledge of the cultivation of ecological edible flowers, as well as the knowledge of the potential market and the opening of new business opportunities.

It’s also necessary to have a multicultural vision of the project and to consider the many varied profiles of users. Therefore, the technical aspects of the project must take in account the different needs of the users, as well as cultural, religious, social and educational factors, that in many cases, override the language barrier.

However, there is an important multidisciplinary team on hand, so this diversity doesn’t present an issue.

Steps for the implementation of the activity

The details of the project consider the needs of the users with special emphasis on its multicultural vision.

Presentation to the participants, who through their professional plans are selected, taking into account the professional interests and the possibilities of social-labor reintegration

Commitment between the agents involved, creating a safe environment of collaboration and consent between the technicians and the users in order to motivate and empower them

Implementation of the project with all the necessary human and technical support to be able to achieve the previous objectives. This implementation is subject to cross sectional factors such time, economic resources, adherence of the users to the project, weather, etc.

Once the course has started the participants select the seeds together with the technician, prepare seedbeds, sow, take care and harvest.

Materials and methods

Infrastructure:
At the infrastructure level, there are two different areas that are used. s. They use a greenhouse and a plot in the urban garden. The space has electricity and water.

Materials and human resources:
For the development of this activity we need all the agricultural tools, specific seeds, one or two technicians and the users.

Time/Workload:
In general, the timing of this activity is 12 months during which the different objectives are developed and implemented. The workload is about 15 hours a week depending on the time of year.

Costs:
The estimate cost to develop this activity is 5000 €. The cost is per year and It includes the cost of materials, staff, and supplies.

Learning outcomes for the participants

At the end of this activity the user will become a potential worker specialising in the cultivation and production of edible flowers.

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